Stay Permit for Recognized Refugee

The decision on an asylum application can either be recognition of refugee status or a rejection of the asylum application.

In case your application is accepted, a recognition letter is prepared and issued to you. You can then apply for a Refugee ID card.

Refugees are persons forced to flee their countries of origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group.

Provision of prima facie refugee status to refugees and asylum-seekers arriving from Yemen is still in place in all states of Somalia. In Somaliland, the government has extended this to Afghans, Syrians and Palestinians, all other nationalities in each region are required to undergo individual RSD.

In case you wish to apply for asylum in Somalia, you should present yourself to the respective authorities depending on the location of registration:

The National Commission for Refugees and IDPs (NCRI) is the responsible body at the Federal level, overseeing the registration process in the southern and central regions of Somalia .

In Somaliland , the registration is conducted by the National Displacement and Refugee Agency (NDRA) Address

For Puntland , registration is conducted by the Human Protection Department of the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affair and Democratization (HPD-MoIFAD) Address

Registering an application for asylum is an important obligation for an asylum seeker, as it forms the legal basis for your legal stay in Somalia and allows you to access public services and available assistance, moreover, it protects you against forced return to your country of origin.

Once you have registered your application for asylum, you will be invited to come for an interview, unless you came from a country that will be granted prima facie refugee status upon registration.

All RSD decisions will normally be issued within three months following the RSD interview. However due to a high number of asylum applications, it can currently take longer than this and UNHCR is taking steps to address this issue.

Pending a decision on your application for asylum, you are allowed to stay in Somalia and afforded international protection especially against refoulement (forced deportation/removal).

If an asylum seeker does not show up for three consecutive RSD appointments and does not contact UNHCR within six weeks of the initial RSD appointment, UNHCR will consider that their RSD application has been abandoned and will close the case.

For those who are initially found not to be refugees, the procedure allows the individual an opportunity to appeal that decision.

Registration is conducted by the government counterpart in partnership with UNHCR.

If you do not possess any of those documents above, please do not resort to producing fraudulent ones. You can explain the reason for the lack of documents during the interview.